Breakdown of We maken eerst een boodschappenlijst voor de week.
wij
we
voor
for
eerst
first
een
a, an
maken
to make
de week
the week
de boodschappenlijst
the shopping list
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Questions & Answers about We maken eerst een boodschappenlijst voor de week.
What does eerst mean in this sentence, and why is it placed where it is?
eerst means “first.” In Dutch main clauses the finite verb must occupy the second position (the V2 rule), so the structure is:
- Subject: We
- Finite verb: maken
- Adverb: eerst
Thus We maken eerst… literally mirrors “We first make…” in English.
Could we start the sentence with eerst? How would the word order change?
Yes. If you front the adverb, you must keep the verb in second position. The sentence becomes:
Eerst maken we een boodschappenlijst voor de week.
Here maken stays in slot 2 and we moves to slot 3.
Why is boodschappenlijst written as one word instead of two?
Dutch prefers compound nouns over separate words. You merge:
- boodschappen (groceries or shopping items)
- lijst (list)
into a single word boodschappenlijst (“shopping list”).
Why do we use the indefinite article een instead of the definite de?
- een means “a” or “an,” indicating any (new) shopping list.
- de would be “the,” referring to a specific, already known list.
So we maken een boodschappenlijst = “we make a shopping list,” not “we make the shopping list.”
Why is it voor de week and not voor een week or another preposition?
- voor means “for” when indicating purpose or period.
- de week uses the definite article because you usually mean “for this coming week” (a specific week).
If you meant “for a week” in a general, nonspecific sense, you could say voor een week, but that rarely applies when you plan groceries.
Why is the verb maken not different in the first‐person plural form? Shouldn’t it change?
In Dutch, the first-person plural form (we/wij) of regular verbs is identical to the infinitive.
Infinitive: maken
Wij/we-vorm: maken
So you always say we maken or wij maken.
Is we the same as wij, and when do you choose one over the other?
Yes, we is the reduced (unstressed) form of wij.
- Use wij when you want emphasis or contrast (“Wij maken eerst een lijst, jullie beginnen later.”)
- Use we in everyday speech and neutral statements.
Could we replace maken with doen and say We doen eerst een boodschappenlijst?
No. Although doen means “to do,” Dutch uses the collocation lijst maken (“to make/prepare a list”).
You don’t say lijst doen, so you need maken here.